Survivor: Adam Klein's Mother Died An Hour After He Got Home

SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!

Survivor season 33 winner Adam Klein revealed during the finale that his mother died of lung cancer just an hour after he returned home from the game.

“I had absolutely no idea what I was coming home to. And the thing is, she was strong throughout the entire season because they had made the decision to stop treatment,” Adam told EW. “My mom did not want to pull me from the game. That was not an option in her mind. But they made the decision that if I was voted out, even if I were on the jury, that I would come home immediately.”

Adam found out from his brother, during the loved ones’ visit, that his mom stopped responding to treatment.

“I said on the show many times that I wanted to watch the episodes with her. We didn’t get to experience it that way together, the way I anticipated it, but she got to live it in her own way because she knew I was still in the game every step of the way,” Adam said. “Otherwise, I would have been home. So she got stronger and stronger throughout the time I was still in there because she knew that I was getting closer and closer to that final dream. I absolutely believed that she held on and she only really started to decline the night that final Tribal Council happened. And by that point, I was already on my way home. And I believe that she waited for me.”

Adam ended up winning the million-dollar prize in a unanimous vote, and he’s donating $100K of his winnings to Stand Up to Cancer. You can donate here.